Need some feedback. I have a client that is driving myself and the listing agency to drink. The client has an accepted offer on a property. The first thing that was complained about was the inspection. It was a fairly good inspection and nothing that I had not already told them about came up. They interpreted the report differently and blew a gasket. They finally calmed down on that after speaking with the inspector. The latest is that the listing said the house had 1380 sq feet but when the appraiser sent his appraisal it was 1280. There was a mistake made with the original figure. Now this client wants the listing company to pay them $???? at closing based on a price per sq foot for the difference in the size. The client will not get papers signed and back. So at this point they are out of contract. The listing agency wants to terminate the contract and after being yelled and cussed at for hours, so do I. Has anyone ever had something similar?
Thank you.

Did the listing agent get the square footage from the seller, or from the assessor's office or a previous appraisal? If they took the seller's "word", big mistake. If they have documents showing the other square footage, this may help them if this goes to court.

Personally, I would be thrilled these people are out of contract and I would excuse myself from the transaction, but obviously you must check with your broker and their attorney(s) to see what they want you to do.

My gut feeling is that if this does close, you will continue to get problems from this client and may get sued no matter what.

In my previous area (just moved), the brokers made us put "square footage per the assessor's office. Buyer should verify" or something similar.

I am the broker. The sq footage was measured by the listing agency not the seller. The listing agency told me they made a mistake. When I list a house I always verify my measurements with the assessors office. This client has been trying to find something so they can get money. They are like ambulance chasers.
I am going to let the listing agency terminate the contract. I want out and they are the kind that would keep on finding fault for years.

I take the square footage claims on listings with a grain of salt and I tell my clients to do so as well. I'm amazed at how many people buy a house and have no idea what the real SF is until after they move in or go to sell it.

I did have a client that was very much like that, but the real issue was that the client would get "cold feet" every time we got close to contract signing (we almost went to contract three times -- three inspections, three earnest deposits, three deals to unravel. I finally found her an apartment and suggested she give househunting a rest for a while. Guess what, she went with another agent and did the same thing on another house! Sometimes clients just have issues and there is nothing you can do about it except to decide whether you want to continue to work with them or not. The key thing is not to let their issues become your issues.

We just autopopulate what the square footage says in the tax record into the listing info.In our mls it always says information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

The apprasier is going to go by heated and colled space so you have different square footage for different things garage,porch,etc.

Was it for livable space?The only way i could see this making any difference is if the space was too small but they knew by looking at it whether it would work for them or not.If they were paying full market value for the property i could see where they have a valid point.

If they are getting a deal on the property then 100 sq ft shouldn't mean squat to them.

Sounds like a pita buyer.

They are getting a great deal on the property. The difference in the listing sq footage and the appraisal sq footage is a stair case and landing. This was what I was told. I told my client this. The clients argument was that you can not put a bed on a staircase. If that is their logic then a measurement would have to exclude kitchen cabinet, bathtub, and interior walls. A bed can not be place in those place.
I have asked my clients if they are truely wanting this house and their reply is, yes, it is our dream home.
They are just the type of people who want everything with out paying for it.
People like this are a learning lesson.

Why don't you have a square footage disclosure requirement or make it part of your company addendum?
http://urlsnip.com/140343

I am confused as to how it was determined that the 100 sf came from a stair case and landing. The measurements should be taken from outside the structure and GLA should only include finished areas that are heated and cooled as the rest of the house.

Here are the basics:
ANSI Z765-2003
(American National Standards Institute, Inc.)
General:
· Always measure the outside.
· Include chimneys & bay windows, but not areas that don’t have floor levels, or where you can’t stand – 5’ minimum.
· Always measure each floor, & watch for overhangs and recessed areas.
· Do not include the attached garage; use the interior wall of the garage next to the house as the outside wall of the house.
· Include the stairs on every level they serve.
· Exclude openings to the floors below.
· Measure each level of a split-level. Multiple floors can be combined into one level if they are within two feet of each other.
· Unfinished areas above-grade must be counted separately.

Note, if you can't stand on it, it's not measured (i.e. openings to floors below), however, there is no national standard established for realtors to measure homes, regional differences change the outcome.

I never measured the house, the listing agency did. They stated the house was 1380. The appraiser measured the outside, then the upstairs. From that figure he stated he deducted the sq footage of the staircase and the landing to arrive at his figure.
I always measure and then compare to tax cards.

Perhaps you should call another appraiser to come in and measure again. It would seem to me that this particular appraiser is incorrect in deducting the stairs and the landing. If a landing was deducted, then all halls should be deducted...then where does it stop?

Doesn't make sense to me. But just my opinion.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. Also thank you to Pikes peak for the link to the square footage disclosure. We do not have that form here in Arkansas or Missouri.